The Best Bang-For-Buck Electric Guitars of 2025

If you like metal music and are in the market for 7 strings, you’ve probably heard of Periphery and Mark Holcomb. Built with a longer 26.5″ scale length for tighter string tension and a flattened 20” radius maple/ebony neck, the PRS SE Mark Holcomb SVN is a beast of a guitar, designed for the technical and melodic demands of more aggressive musical genres. It comes with Holcomb’s signature Seymour Duncan Alpha and Omega pickups, which can go from the shimmery clean tones to heavy, aggressive, down-tuned riffs Periphery is famous for.

While it might initially be regarded solely as a Metal/DJent guitar, budding session musicians, home producers, and general music enthusiasts could also use it for Jazz or Blues music, thanks to the clarity of the pickups and the coil split feature.

Think of this guitar as the big brother of the ICHI10. Most of the features are the same, besides the addition of the 7th string, which opens up more possibilities for downturned prog metal riffs or an extra bit of low end to chords when playing jazz without a bass player. The bridge humbucker also makes it a bit more compatible for high-gain applications than the S/S/S configuration of the ICHI10. It is also buttery smooth to play, with a neck that isn’t too thin or flat, meaning you can shred on it, as well as play bluesy riffs with your thumb wrapped around the neck.

Overall, this is a great guitar if you like the look and convenience of headless guitars and want to play just about every genre.

This guitar is for those who grew up vibing to bands like Deftones and Animals as Leaders. Will you be joining a U2 cover band after buying this? Probably not. Will it let you chug and shred to your heart’s content? Absolutely.

The neck is thin yet comfortable, with a multi-scale design that keeps the low strings from feeling too flabby and the high strings easy to bend. Equipped with Fishman Fluence active humbuckers, it delivers noiseless performance even with heavy gain. A push-pull volume pot adds tonal flexibility with two distinct voices for each pickup, plus a coil-tap for extra sound shaping. Gotoh locking tuners and a Mono-rail hardtail bridge optimized for tight palm-muting round out the whole package.

It doesn’t look half-bad, either.

The Squier Classic Vibe series has been a standout in the budget guitar market since its debut, and it’s easy to see why. Priced at just over $400, it offers the quality fit, finish, and tone reminiscent of the Stratocasters so many of us have seen and heard our guitar heroes play. The HSS pickup configuration gives you versatility, while the guitar itself is inspired by the beloved 70s Strat design, featuring a sleek C-shaped neck. It also serves as an excellent platform for future upgrades and customizations, making it a fantastic option for beginners and a guitar that can evolve with the player over time.

The Silver Sky line of guitars is a collaboration between John Mayer and PRS to bring some modernity to the Stratocaster formula while still retaining the vintage features that have kept the Strat a favorite among musicians of all levels since its introduction in the 50s.

The Fender American Performer Telecaster delivers genuine US-made quality at an accessible price point. Crafted in California, it features a maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, jumbo frets, and Yosemite pickups, offering vintage tone with modern output. The Greasebucket tone control lets you dial back the highs without affecting bass or volume, providing increased control over your sound. With a great price-to-performance ratio, this Telecaster is a versatile instrument that stays true to the classic that started it all with a few contemporary touch-ups for musicians of all levels.

If you can ignore the headstock, the Epiphone 1959 Les paul Standard is a pretty faithful recreation of the classic (and coveted) Gibson ’59 Les Paul, with accurate features such as the thicker 1959 neck profile, PAF-style Gibson Burstbucker pickups, CTS pots, Mallory capacitors, and period-accurate wiring.

This guitar is priced and specced better than entry-level Gibsons, and is a no-brainer if you’re dead-set on getting an LP-style guitar but not in a position to drop a few thousand dollars on a Gibson Les Paul Standard.

The Epiphone 1961 Les Paul SG Standard follows the same formula as the ’59 LP above, with a period-accurate design, high-quality hardware, USA-level craftsmanship, and premium Gibson electronics that, once again, make it a better value than any entry-level Gibson. It provides a faithful recreation of the first SGs released in the ’60s at a pretty accessible price.

Yamaha often gets overlooked despite consistently delivering guitars that excel in modern features, playability, and sound. The updated Revstar Standard RSS02T offers a lightweight chambered mahogany body with a maple top and a carbon-reinforced mahogany neck that stays straight in any environment (I am unsure why more brands don’t do this). With versatile VP5 P-90 pickups and a unique “Focus” switch for added clarity, the guitar also includes a 5-way pickup selector that provides a range of sounds, including phase-shifted tones.

Overall, this is a fantastic guitar that can easily compete with instruments that cost 2-3 times more. It has cutting-edge features you’d be hard-pressed to find on certain premium guitars, let alone a decidedly mid-range guitar.